; artists.
- Send new prints. ordered Demareo. new sculptures. in honour of an
pilgrimage. was art. For one ; glorious. sleepless. comradely week.
5 beneath a banner which can appear
fresh springs. And the enthusiastic
THE LIST
Sheena McDonald on ‘English.‘ said Richard. firmly. ‘English is the lingua franca here.. Yes. ()r at least. up to a point. Lord Blackfriars. lfyou’re fielding a forty-strong all-nations team in Yugoslavia. it's. sadly. unlikely that Serbo-(‘roat will be the tongue in which ideas are exchanged. or even drinks ordered. But the currency. as on every Demarco Edinburgh Arts
this scratch caravanserai of Scots. I’icts. Angles. Saxons. Yanks and Europeans was proud to muster
somewhat smudged and tattered on home soil. but was unfurled. new-minted and gleaming. in the welcoming warmth of an unseasonably balmy and snowless Sarajevo winter — Scottish Art.
A trifle purple‘.’ Bear with me. I joined this doughty crusade for the final climactic weekend. The experience may have been concentrated. but attempts to describe it defy literary gravity. Let's begin at the end. Even as. Sweeney-like. you yawn and scratch your designer-bikini-stubble. and wonder why all-night television doesn't seem to be pumping out the eagerly-threatened soft-core entertainment you‘d been staying up to complain about. the citizens of Princip‘s adopted shrine are thronging into the basement fluorescent-lit gallery ofthe (‘ollegium Artisticum to gawp and grin at the labours offorly Scottish
New-minted labours. what‘s more. invitation from the Yugoslavs which
was only clinched two months before opening. sink new wells. uncover
art sans frontieres.
and tarred into sinister configuration; the very packing-cases which had housed the migrant prints were reassembled in a triumphal arch of wear and tear; a mass of blackened railway-sleepers was cast off and restitched. And the whole urgent gallimaufry ofcreative skill will be reassembled again and again throughout a majestic fist of halls and galleries across the land.
Impressed? Yes. I was. Not without reservations: to my eye. the product ofsuch a hasty muse does not necessarily represent the very best of the vigorous imagination. But there is. without any doubt. a real excitement about being forced to meet the challenge. And i wonder— would a similar exercise in Scotland attract comparable crowds (hundreds and hundreds) to its opening'.’ Even more tellineg. perhaps. would it command an equivalent peaktime network television hour‘s coverage on a Friday night. where the explanatory interviews were conducted in the lingua franca'.’ Suspect not. Sweeney — and wonder why not.
‘()h. what's she on about this time'.’ That‘s what I say to my wife!‘ said one of the artists. amiably. across a midnight platter ofunnameable cheese and pickles. I‘m on about ignoring the confines. saluting the international fraternity (and sorority) — I‘m on about daring. It does happen here. Be proud that Glasgow. alone in this realm. has found the space and resources to welcome Peter Brook‘s Mahabharata. (‘ommit to Edinburgh‘s International Festival.
, not just (although do) in pounds and pence. but in tongue and proper currency— like the general making of love. just because it happened once.
response from the confreres (and consoeurs) of the Scottish Sculpture
Trust and Peacock Printmakers i achieved the extraordinary feat of . half-a-dozen original new works
being created on site. within
. forty-eight hours. Art-to-go. as it
were. Not so much carry-out. as
dig-in.
()r shovel in: halfa ton of bricks
' was broken up and reconstructed; a
gutted Mercedes was reborn in a caul
', ofwhite paint (still wet. no doubt!): j huge wooden torpedoes were sawed
or forty-one times. doesn‘t mean it will happen again. No venture can be taken for granted. And — memo to myself: extend the tongue. Stick it out far enough to I check the lazy tyranny of English.
l and do the brothers and sisters the
i honour ofcomprehendingtheir
' native woodnotes wild. Apart from ‘ anything else. you I might hear
somethingtoouradvantage. It‘s risky. ofcourse. We might not. But there's an elementary little daring for you! Slaintel
BRYDEN THOMSON
Justweeks afterthe resignation ofGeneral Administrator. Stephen Carpenter. the SNO has annoucedthesudden departure olMusical Director. NeemeJarvi. who is going. it is said. for ‘private and domestic' reasons. Just as suddenly. his successor. Bryden Thomson. has been appointed. Well known and well liked. the choice of Thomsontotake overthe SNO will be a popularone with Scottish audiences. As SNO Chairman. Raymond Williamson. says ‘The next three years will be particularly momentous onestortheSNO. encompassing Glasgow's yearas European City of Culture. the opening ofthe new Glasgow concert hall andthe SNO‘s centenaryin 1991.We are delightedto have Bryden Thomson at the helm duringthisperiod.‘ Ayrshire-born Thomson. now 59. will continue. for thetime being. to live in Ireland. where he heldthe position of Principal Conductorotthe RTE Orchestra and received the Honorary Degree olDoctor of Letters from the New University of Ulsterfor his work with the Ulster Orchestra. But. he has been closely associated with the
GUEST llST
I SNOformanyyears-‘lt
' appearslife hasturnedlull
i circle.Afterstudyingatthe I i RSAMD.thenbeing
4 employedforatimeasSNO z i orchestral pianist. and later ' AssociateConductor.itis , quiteathrilltoreturntothe
c g musical life of Scotland.‘ l g (CarolMain). I g TOM MORTON E ‘There‘s actually a very
welcome attitude towards I music in Shetland.“ says ' Tom Morton. ‘It is generally 3 seen as a folk orientated place. but music is not ghettoized here. I think it is l reallyhealthythatyoung
punks will go and seea
country band. and thatsort ofthing.‘
Morton recently left Glasgow where he had worked as a freelance journalist for both Melody Makerand BBC TV. totake up residence onthe Shetland Islands. From that base he worked on the set of his album. The Hevenger's Comedy. on the Hialtland Phonographic Industries label (through Fast Forward). an organisation funded to the extent of £1845 by the Shetland Arts Trust.
‘The trust exists to help provide a kind of bridge
. between Shetland and the mainland/Britishmusic scene.’ he explained. ‘The
next release will be a
compilation of Shetland
artists. with the idea being i to get the artiststhe ; exposure they deserve and l have previously been denied.‘
The album is a collection of guitar/vocal songs including the wonderful ‘The Man Who Nearly Signed the Beatles' which is based on the exploits ofa certain well-known record company A&R person. and on a more serious level 'Which School Did You Go To?'. about religious j divides in Glasgow.
! While many Scottish
f bands would probably love
i the chance to throw abuse
, and missiles at Morton from the comfort of an audience- his press release suggests he will not be givingthem the chance: ‘ltwasin Shetland that I began to perform again. faraway from Glasgow where any gig would have been full of has-been rock groups. I'd
once criticised in print.
throwing cans and abuse. I‘m basically a coward.‘
RON DONACHIE
It is a fair leap from beinga
roadie with The Majestics to ' becoming a slighted ; husband in 17th-century f Jacobeanrevengetragedy— one that Don Donachie has just made.
In presentgracing your screens asthe sizeable . Dennis. in BBCZ's repeatof j
TomMorth
John Byrne‘s Tutti Frutti.
('5
’b /4‘
Donachie will appearthis month on the Citizens‘ stage as Soranzo in John Ford‘s Tis Pity She‘s A Whore.
An unwholesome little tale of incest. Tis Pity reeks with lust. blood. vengeance and social satire— Donachie relishesthe prospect: ‘lt‘s great. What‘s most interesting about it.l think. is that the ideas are far more advanced thanjust aboutanybody but Shakespeare.‘
Afriendly. approachable man. Donachie matches an evident store of knowledge about his profession with a healthy sense ofhumour. Born in Dundee. he moved to Glasgow to study English and gradually gotsucked into acting. ‘l didn‘thave any intentions of being an actor early on. Whatl wanted to do was be a journalist— but I went off the idea. The kind of journalist I wanted to be was Sandy Gall —in Afghanistan with a sun-tan and a tape-recorder-but eventually I realised that wasn't everybody's chosen role.‘
Donachie worked as a navvy in Dundee forawhile. returned to Glasgow with no fixed future and then struck lucky. ‘I heard purely by chance that 7:84 were looking forbig Scots guys who could sing for One Big Blow. So I phoned them up and said. hello. l'm big. I'm Scots and I can sing. Iwent foran audition. That was on the Friday and they said if you can start on Tuesday you've gottheiob.‘
Donachie became a foundermembers ofthe group The Flying Pickets. who developed from the show. Whilst the others wenton to touras a group however. he chose otherwise.‘ It was my tirstjob though. and I didn't want to be a singer.‘
Since then Donachie's career has been hugely varied. including appearances at both Edinburgh's Lyceum and Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre in a wide range ofroles (including Willy Loman in lastyear's Death ofa Saleman. )-
At the Citizens he will be directed by Philip Prowse. who has made extraordinarily beautiful.
' potent productions of
revenge tragedy one of his
Ron Donachie
arm List i?) Feb — 3 Mar loss